


our burdens of blood

by green_piggy



Series: these crests that bind us [3]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Honestly who doesn't, Hurt/Comfort, No Spoilers, Slice of Life, THEY'RE GOOD GALS SUSAN, hilda having the world's largest crush on marianne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-19 04:23:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20325043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/green_piggy/pseuds/green_piggy
Summary: Hilda ropes Marianne into some sword practice.





	our burdens of blood

**Author's Note:**

> criminal lack of f/f in the 3h ao3 tag... smh Shaking My Head... gotta do everything yourself
> 
> ANYWAY 3h? an absolute fucking Incredible game. i love it so so soooo much - 130 hours in now and trailblazing through black eagles lmao (GOLDEN DEER FOREVER FEAR THE DEER!!) - legit don't think there's a single character i dislike? How Did Intsys Do It
> 
> hilda and marianne are both very cute and very good so i wrote this out lmao - let them be happy please;;

“I’m not…” Marianne had an easier job holding the training sword than Hilda had expected, but her fingers trembled so violently around the handle that the entire blade rattled. She bit her lip, head turned down, long lashes squeezed tight. “...Do you really think I’ll be… good at this?”

“I do!” Resting her hand on her hip, Hilda leaned on her steel axe. She’d managed to sweet talk everyone else out of the training area, and rope the guard into not letting anyone in, knowing that Marianne wouldn’t even  _ speak  _ around most people.

And, well.

She  _ wanted  _ to do this. She wanted to be able to know that Marianne could handle herself with a weapon, so she didn’t have to keep an eye peeled on her every battle.

Hell, Byleth had pulled her over, asking her if she could help Marianne with her training. They said they spotted potential in her sword skills, but precious few people in their house actually used a sword. Claude did, but he was  _ Claude.  _ And it was, like, his third or fourth weapon; the rare time he didn’t have a bow, he was heaving around one of her axes. Not as well as she did,  _ of course.  _ He’d even taken up  _ magic. _

Weird guy.

So, yeah. Hilda didn’t have the best grasp on swords, but she was better than most of their house, and she  _ was  _ Marianne’s closest friend (hopefully), so it fell on her frail little shoulders.

“Firstly!” Hilda called. “You need to, y’know,  _ look  _ at your enemy. Bit hard trying to stab someone you’re not looking at.”

Her voice always softened around Marianne. Maybe it was just the effect of being around someone who looked like she’d kneel over if you whispered too loudly. But Marianne wasn’t weak -  _ far  _ from it. She’d had a rough lot in life, from what little Hilda knew, and something about her was just - just so _ cute! _

And when she  _ smiled…  _ it was like the sun peeking out from behind the clouds on a rainy day. Such a rare, precious sight.

Hilda would do  _ anything  _ to see it.

Marianne clenched her other hand over the handle, still staring down with great determination. Hilda tried to resist the urge to sigh.

“You can do it,” she whispered, crouching down a little. “It’s only us around, don’t worry. Nobody else is here.”

There were several seconds of silence, before Marianne nodded to herself and lifted her head. Strands of hair fell from around the hazardous plait she’d done today, even more messy than usual, and her  _ eyebags… _

Hilda was going to take her out for some self-care after this. A meal, at the very least. Maybe she’d pick up some materials to make another necklace for Marianne. She deserved the entire  _ world. _

“Is there…” Marianne swallowed. “Is there any particular way I should hold it?”

“Hmm… just try to imagine it as an extension of your arm. Don’t see it as a weapon. See it as a  _ part  _ of you.”

Marianne bit her lip.

“It’s not  _ actually  _ a part of you, don’t worry. You’re, like, the least violent person I know. You talk to birds and horses, Marianne. You don’t have it in you to hurt  _ anyone.” _

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say, because Marianne’s frown only deepened.

“But I know you can protect us,” Hilda hurriedly paddled on, before she accidentally made Marianne cry. “Just -  _ argh!”  _ Her axe’s handle cracked under her fist. She winced. “Don’t stress it too much! I know that’s a  _ lot  _ easier said than done, but… let’s just get to it.”

“Y-yes. Thank you, Hilda.”

“Pfft. I’ve done  _ nothing,  _ but you’re welcome.” Hilda hefted her axe high with one hand. “I  _ should  _ probably switch to a training sword, huh… gimme a minute.”

She skipped over to the edge of the training area, humming a little song as she twirled her axe in her hand. She left it against the wall and picked up a stray training sword, abandoned by Felix in a huff after Hilda had shooed (read: annoyed) him out of the room.

It was so  _ light,  _ she worried she might accidentally fling it out of her hand. Still, she didn’t want to land Marianne in the infirmary.

“I swear, it’s more effort using a flimsy thing like this,” she grumbled as she returned to Marianne’s side. As much as she liked hearing herself talk, she also knew that Marianne hated silence, for what little she talked. And while Hilda always tried to encourage her to talk more around people, she was already pushing her today with this little training session. So, naturally, it fell on her to ramble even more than she usually did. “But you gotta do what you gotta do…”

“I’m sorry…”

“Nah, you don’t need to apologise. You’re  _ amazing  _ with magic. I’m pretty sure a single spell from you would land  _ me  _ in the infirmary. We’re all good at different things!” Hilda winked. “I’m good at being lazy, for example.”

The tips of Marianne’s ears flushed red - how  _ precious.  _ “Thank you…”

“You’re more than welcome.” Hilda smacked the bottom of her sword against the ground. “Now, shall we get to some actual training? We don’t need to do much today. Long as you can swing a sword, I’ll be happy.”

“Yes…” Marianne nodded and finally,  _ finally,  _ lifted her head ever-so-slightly. “Let’s.”

Grinning, Hilda grasped her sword and hung it at her side, her other arm lifted in front of her; the perfect position if she had a shield. She didn’t, though, but it was a posture that came naturally to her.

It took her a while, but Marianne had a good stance, once Hilda had gently coaxed her into standing upright. She still looked like a leaf dangling off a tree in autumn, trembling and clinging on for sheer life, but it was a start.

“Don’t hold back on me!” Hilda called, and launched herself forward. No one was around to be disappointed in her, for one reason or another. She had no reason to go easy.

Wood clashed against wood; Marianne shoved her weapon off with surprising ease, more so than most of Hilda’s training partners. Hilda skipped back, one step, two steps,and grinned.

“Nice block! Keep it up!”

Marianne’s cheeks brightened, but she was smiling. Just a tiny bit, but it was there, and Hilda would take that as a victory.

They carried on like that for some time. Marianne was a fast learner, and Hilda could already tell that she was going to come out of this training session a  _ lot  _ better than she had been going in.

It was a while before it happened; as Hilda stumbled back, recovering from a surprisingly strong strike, Marianne yelled and threw herself forward again. Her Crest flashed in front of her, right before Hilda was smashed with a blow that sent her tumbling to the ground, her sword clanging against the tiles.

“Hilda!” Marianne shouted, her voice barely audible over the ringing in Hilda’s ears and the tumbling of her own sword.  _ “Goddess,  _ Hilda, I’m so sorry, I - please be okay!” She crouched down next to Hilda, healing magic tingling the tips of her fingers, but Hilda rested her hand over her friend’s, grinning.

“That,” she breathed, “was  _ incredible.  _ I didn’t know your Crest was so  _ strong!” _

“It…” Marianne shook her head. “It’s not strong. It’s a curse.  _ Please  _ let me heal you.”

“I’m tougher than I look, don’t you worry.” Sure, her shoulder ached a bit, and her arm was definitely going to bruise, but that was nothing compared to the wounds they all received on the actual battlefield. And she  _ was  _ made of tough stuff, much as she loved to - well, not do  _ anything. _

_ “Please,”  _ Marianne whispered.

There was something terrible in her shining eyes that made Hilda pause. A darkness, a  _ loathing,  _ so strong and intense, that Hilda didn’t know what to do about it.

Wordlessly, she held out her arm. Marianne pushed up her sleeve, fingers still glowing, and Hilda exhaled as she felt that warmth push into her flesh. It did little to heal her - it couldn’t, not when it didn’t truly hurt to begin with - but Marianne visibly sagged with relief, resting her forehead on top of Hilda’s shoulder.

It wasn’t a secret that Marianne hated her Crest. While there were plenty of people who hated the burden of their Crest, Marianne seemed to loathe the mere  _ existence  _ of it, seemed to believe that her having it made  _ her  _ existence something unbearable.

She didn’t talk about it, but… Hilda wasn’t pushy, not when it came to matters like that. Everybody had things they'd rather not discuss.

All she could do was be there for her, through thick and thin, and be her friend. Be someone that Marianne could  _ rely  _ on, because goddess knew her father didn’t seem to do that for her.

Hilda resisted the urge to clench her fists. Not now, not when Marianne was shaking against her.

“I’m sorry,” she was whispering, “I’m  _ so  _ sorry…”

“It’s okay,” Hilda hushed. She rested a hand on Marianne’s head and gave an awkward stroke, but it seemed to minimise her trembling, so she kept on repeating it. “You didn’t hurt me. You  _ won’t  _ hurt me.”

Marianne hiccuped. Hilda tilted her head back towards the sky, a pathetic attempt at giving her privacy. She curled one arm around Marianne’s back, resting her hand on her tiny shoulder, and waited.

Eventually, Marianne shifted. She pulled herself away, stopping only at Hilda’s hand over her own.

“Let’s go treat ourselves,” Hilda said. The words were heavy and awkward in her mouth; she wasn’t good at comforting people. Not like this. “Get some food, maybe? And, ohhh, there’s this shop I’ve been  _ dying  _ to check out…”

“Are… are you sure?” Marianne refused to meet her gaze. “You’d - you’d be better off taking anyone else—”

“No, I wouldn’t. I only have  _ one  _ best friend.”

Marianne’s head snapped up. “But I—”

“Oh, you lightly grazed me, so what?” Hilda pulled down her sleeve again, marvelling at the perfect job Marianne had done with healing; not a blemish or mark remained on her pale skin. “Not to mention you healed me up  _ brilliantly.  _ Whenever Leonie hits me, she just tells me to stop being so lazy. No one else heals me up after hitting me!”

A tiny huff of a laugh escaped Marianne’s mouth. She sombered immediately, as if she couldn’t allow herself any hint of a good emotion - knowing her, that was probably  _ exactly  _ what she thought.  _ Oh,  _ how Hilda’s heart ached. How she longed to remove this burden from her. “I suppose so…”

“You did great, today. Really! And I  _ know  _ you’re never going to hurt any of us.” Hilda pushed herself onto her feet and held out a hand for Marianne. “So, what do you say?”

“If… if you’re sure…”

“Absolutely!”

Beaming, Marianne wrapped her ghost-like fingers around Hilda’s own. Hilda pulled, and  _ tried  _ to be gentle, but she ended up almost knocking Marianne over again. She grasped her shoulders just in time.

“Oops! Sorry, my bad.”

Marianne giggled. It was a lovely sound. “I don’t mind…”

“See, you don’t mind me being a bit heavy handed with you, so  _ why  _ would I mind it the other way around?”

“Ah!” Marianne frowned. “But…”

“Nuh-uh, no buts. No what ifs. We’re gonna discuss this over some dinner.” Hilda hummed. “Who knows, two cute girls like us out and about… it shouldn’t be difficult to rope some fool into paying for us.”

“I…” Marianne shook her head. “I’d rather eat just with you.”

“A-ah, well…” Hilda could feel her own cheeks brightening, as embarrassing as it was. “I suppose I  _ have  _ got plenty of spending money… just for you, though! And I expect help tidying the library on my next shift.”

“But I’m terrible at it,” Marianne murmured, as if Hilda didn't know that.

“Fine,  _ fine. _ Your company'll be more than enough.” That'd been her intention right from the get-go, but she didn't need to know that.

Marianne smiled - it was a sincere one, dimples coming out and the corners of her eyes wrinkling. With how the afternoon sun fell on her face and the strands of hair framing her cheeks…

She really was beautiful. She didn’t even have to try. She just  _ was. _

“Thank you, Hilda. That… that’s very kind of you.”

“Pfft. How can I  _ not  _ want to be around a girl as cute as you?” She linked her arm through Marianne’s, grinning at her surprised squeak. “Let’s go clean up and then we’ll hit town!”

“Yes… thank you, Hilda.”

She wasn’t just talking about the compliment, Hilda knew. Her grin softened into a small smile.

“Anytime, Marianne. Anytime.”

Maybe little things like this were all Hilda could do, to help Marianne with her struggles, but maybe it was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> [my twitter!](https://twitter.com/greenpiggles) very 3h focused atm lmao (god i fucking Love claude) but feel free to check it out!
> 
> kudos and comments are always awesome - thank you for reading~ <3


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